Advice from the Masters: Jonathan Gottschall

True confessions time. I had never heard of Jonathan Gottschall before last week. I was at a party and talking with another writer about the craft. I had just said something like “I think we humans are storytelling animals.” Boy, did I feel silly when he said, “Oh yeah. I love that book!”

“A commercial rarely just says that a laundry detergent works well; it shows that it does through a story about an overworked mom, rascally kids, and a laundry room triumph. ADT Security Services terrifies us into buying home alarms by showing short films where helpless women and children are rescued from wild-eyed home invaders.”